ARCHDIOCESE HOLDS SURVEY ON SCHOOLS; FAMILIES IN AREA VALLEYS ASKED ABOUT NEED FOR NEW CAMPUSES.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

More than 10,000 Catholic families in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys recently received surveys from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to gauge interest in building schools to serve growing populations.

In a letter that accompanies the survey, Bishop Gerald Wilkerson - whose region includes the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys - notes that a new high school would be coeducational, have an enrollment of 600 to 1,200 students and charge an estimated $4,600 in annual tuition.

``Land for schools has not yet been purchased. However, new elementary schools may be located at Blessed Kateri parish or in the central Santa Clarita Valley,'' Wilkerson's letter states. ``Assume that a Catholic high school would be centrally located in the valley.''

A new Catholic elementary school would charge tuition of $2,600 per year.

``For several years, there has been discussion about opening a Catholic high school in the Santa Clarita Valley. The archdiocese wants to know if there is enrollment potential for new schools,'' Wilkerson adds. ``No decisions have been made about whether to open new schools or when the schools would open.''

It's also unclear how much land the archdiocese would need to buy for each construction project and how much money would have to be raised to pay for the new schools, said Neal Meitler, executive director of Meitler Consultants Inc., a Wisconsin firm hired by the archdiocese to conduct the survey.

In the Antelope Valley, the archdiocese sent out surveys to 5,345 parishioners, along with parents who send their children to two local elementary schools: Sacred Heart in Lancaster and St. Mary's in Palmdale, Meitler said.

The likelihood of adding one or more schools in one valley won't affect the chances of new construction in the other valley, Meitler said. ``They're both growth areas,'' he said. ``I think the archdiocese hopes that they'll build new schools in both places.''

The Antelope Valley already has a Catholic high school - Paraclete in Lancaster. ``That survey is focusing on the need for an elementary school and also a middle school,'' Meitler said.

``Out of this survey and out of the demographic data, we will develop enrollment projections,'' the consultant said. The survey results will be presented to the pastors and principals in both valleys, along with the bishop, he added.

If a Catholic middle school were built, the survey states, the estimated annual tuition would be $3,100 and it would serve grades six through eight. A new elementary campus could serve either kindergarten through fifth grade or through eighth grade.

Those polled also were asked to supply information on their family income, how often they attend Mass, which parish they belong to, the number and ages of their children, whether they would need financial assistance to pay tuition, and what factors - such as academic reputation, athletics, discipline and religious curriculum - would prompt them to enroll their child in a Catholic high school.

Some parents in the Santa Clarita Valley have been lobbying for construction of a Catholic high school. Currently, the only Catholic campus in the area is Our Lady of Perpetual Help elementary school in Newhall, which serves kindergarten through eighth grade.

The Santa Clarita Valley has two other Catholic parishes - St. Clare's in Canyon Country and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha in Saugus - but no other elementary schools. The closest Catholic campus for grades 9 through 12 is in the San Fernando Valley, at Alemany High School in Mission Hills.

Four-page surveys were mailed last week to 5,225 parishioners of the three churches.